It is a common practice throughout the world to use postage stamps as an indication that postage has been paid for the delivery of a mailpiece. These postage stamps are typically produced and issued by a government agency and procured for use by the general public. The postage stamps can either be obtained at a local post office or can be procured out of a postal vending machine. Moreover, for certain holidays or for certain special events the postal authority often produces a limited number of special edition or commemorative stamps which are distributed for sale and used for the payment of postage or alternatively are saved as a collector's item.
Post Offices have also found that it is desirable to permit a consumer to obtain a postage stamp which can be personally customized in appearance by the consumer.
Currently the United States Postal Services allows mailers to use their desktop computer and printer to apply postage in the form of an Information-Based Indicia (IBI) directly onto envelopes or labels while applying an address. The IBI consists of a two-dimensional bar code containing hundreds of bytes of information about the mail piece and certain human-readable information. The indicium includes a digital signature to preclude the forgery of indicia by unauthorized parties.
The IBI technology of the United States Postal Service (USPS) offers the postal customer a way to pay for postage without stamps. Envelopes are franked using the postal customer's personal computer, a Postal Security Device add-on, and the customer's printer. The Postal Security Device provides postal value storage and the link to the USPS and the manufacturer of the personal computer compatible add-on.
Presently, not every mailpiece is scanned by the USPS. Because of this, it is impossible to use the originator information in an IBI to charge the originator for the postage. The foregoing is one reason why the USPS requires the postage to be pre-paid before the mailpiece enters the mail stream.
At this time the USPS is interested in increasing their retail presence and availability of postal products. The USPS permits several different modes for paying for postage, which include postal indicia, permit mail, and stamps. None of the above is conducive to selling at a retail environment. Postal indicia require a meter that ties up funds in a prepaid account and produces a monochromatic imprint that is not considered appropriate for personal mail. Permit mail requires extensive processes for controlled acceptance and is even less appropriate for personal mail. Stamps are appropriate for personal mail, but since they are actual payment for postage, instead of evidence of payment like indicia or paid at controlled acceptance like permit mail, retailers do not like to use stamps. There are three issues which prevent retailers from carrying stamps: cost of inventory, risk of theft, and inventory can become outdated after postal rate changes.
Stamps tie up retailer funds in inventory and are perceived to be a primary target for theft since they equate to a cash value. Also, in order to have a diverse inventory of stamp pictures, even more stamps must be tied up in inventory. As a result, retailers often provide minimum service by only having one type of stamp (e.g. books of twenty standard 1-ounce rate flag stamps) to limit their inventory costs.
The risk of theft is another deterrent for retailers to carry stamps. Stolen stamps are still genuine postage and cannot be differentiated from stamps that were obtained legally. Therefore, they cannot be “deactivated” nor can they even be individually traced. To prevent theft, retailers often lock up their stamps in drawers under the supervision of cashiers. As a result, they miss an opportunity on the visual advertising aspects, of the impulse buyers, and other marketing techniques. Buyers are often not even aware that the store sells stamps unless they ask.
The final problem is that stamps lose their usefulness after a postal rate change. Forever stamps do not lose their usefulness after a rate change, but are only available in limited styles and application (e.g. one ounce first class rate). Stamps other than forever stamps (e.g. special value stamps or stamps with a vanity/special image) are still valid postage for the value indicated on the stamp, but very few people want to have to buy stamps with the “old rate” and buy “make-up rate” stamps in addition. The USPS position on this issue is that since it is still valid postage, they will not offer a refund. Therefore, the retailers will end up with undesired postage after a postal rate change and will also need to carry rate makeup stamps in addition.
Customized Postage, such as Pitney Bowes Stamp Expressions Sheet of Stamps product, is created with an Information Based Indicia (IBI) that has a unique identification (ID) consisting of the meter vendor ID, meter ID, and a piece count. This ID is unique and therefore individually identifiable. Since these stamps are created from a meter in a similar process as an indicium, the postal value has already been paid to the USPS, so it does not solve the problem of the retailer tying up funds in postage.
Other service providers, such as the prepaid phone card and gift card industries, have attempted to solve the problem of tying up retailer funds by activating the prepaid item at the point of sale terminal. However, this requires integration of the retailer's sales and inventory system with the service provider's Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. The integration can be complex and is not cost effective for low value items such as postage stamps.